Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Passport
Pass′port
,Noun.
1.
Permission to pass; a document given by the competent officer of a state, permitting the person therein named to pass or travel from place to place, without molestation, by land or by water.
Caution in granting
passports
to Ireland. Clarendon.
2.
A document carried by neutral merchant vessels in time of war, to certify their nationality and protect them from belligerents; a sea letter.
3.
A license granted in time of war for the removal of persons and effects from a hostile country; a safe-conduct.
Burrill.
4.
Figuratively: Anything which secures advancement and general acceptance.
Sir P. Sidney.
His
passport
is his innocence and grace. Dryden.
Webster 1828 Edition
Passport
P`ASSPORT
, n.1.
A written license from a king or other proper authority, granting permission or safe conduct for one to pass through his territories, or to pass from one country to another, or to navigate a particular sea without hindrance or molestation.2.
A license for importing or exporting contraband goods or movables without paying the usual duties.3.
That which enables one to pass with safety or certainty. His passport is his innocence and grace.